


The Beginnings of Winter

by Kashimalin



Category: Notice Me Senpai! (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Hot Chocolate, Snow, Snowball Fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 10:05:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17242277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kashimalin/pseuds/Kashimalin
Summary: The first snow of winter always spurs the members of the Garden Club into action. They get the assistance of the third-year TA and a classmate, but when one of them decides to start a snowball fight, nobody is backing down!





	The Beginnings of Winter

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Secret Santa gift for @the-ghost-of-luck on Tumblr! While we held our NMS Secret Santa on the Discord this year, here's to a third year of NMS Secret Santa and how wonderful it is to know the fandom is still kicking and on the verge of a comeback!

“How are you holding up, Izumi?” Hideki stopped his shoveling a moment, watching as his friend released a long exhale. His breath was visible in the cold air, putting his exhaustion on full display.

“I’ll be all right… I think I just need a break.” Leaning heavily against his shovel, Izumi let out another sigh. “How about the rest of you?”

Across the garden, Akira made no comment, continuing to toss snow onto the pile behind him. Izumi took the lack of response to be his answer, indicating that he still had plenty of energy left in him.

Itsuki, on the other hand, was a mirror of Izumi, his usually pale cheeks dusted with pink. He was using his shovel for support, shivering slightly as a chilly breeze swept between the hedges. “I’m f-fine. I-It’s great you guys could help us shovel out the garden a bit and dust off the bushes.”

“It’s no trouble. We were around and wanted to help.” Hideki continued his work, flashing a smile at Akira. “And you promised to buy hot chocolate at the café afterwards, too.”   

“What? Aki… Akira!” Itsuki’s jaw went slack. “Y-You bribed them?”

Akira shrugged. “Maybe.”

Izumi and Hideki laughed as Itsuki furiously drove his shovel deeper into the ground, nearly falling backwards as he attempted to lift it out again. Akira watched him for a moment, grinning all the while.

“At least we were around to help,” Hideki said. “You know we would have been willing to anyway. It also helped that we could see you and Akira this time. Without his white mask, and you wearing that bright purple coat, it’s easier to see the two of you in this weather.”

“T-That’s true!” Izumi lifted himself away from his shovel, sucking in a deep breath before resuming. “It’s good that you got that, Itsuki.”

“Vik… Viktor-sensei threw it at me after the snow started falling. H-He said it was an early Christmas present. He didn’t want me getting hit by anybody while walking around outside.”

“It’s good for you,” Akira said, nodding in agreement with the other two boys.

“Tha… Thank you, guys.” Itsuki’s smile spurred them to get back to work, the four of them working in relative silence. In no time, the garden space was nearly shoveled out. Pathways were cleared for easy walking to reach the greenhouse and check on the plants, and bushes were dusted off to prevent their branches from sagging. However, as Akira and Itsuki returned the shovels to the shed, Hideki had an idea.

Reaching down, he scooped up a batch of snow. Thumping his hands a couple times, he formed a decent snowball and took careful aim. As Akira stepped out, Itsuki close behind and swinging the door shut, Hideki let it fly.

“Direct hit!” He grinned wide as Akira’s chest. Akira recoiled a moment, glaring across the gardens before immediately ducking down and rolling up a snowball. He threw it wildly, and Hideki managed to avoid it—

But not Izumi, whose face was struck. He cried out, tasting water and snow as he stumbled backwards. His glasses were covered in it. Wiping them with soaking mittens did nothing to help him see clearly. He could hear Hideki and Akira laughing in the background, and frowned.

“It’s not funny! Help!”

“I’ve got you, Izumi!” Hideki was still wearing an amused grin when he stepped in front of Izumi, shielding him from Itsuki’s oncoming snowball. It hit his arm, the weak toss barely doing any damage.

“Hideki-senpai! You don’t have to, just help with these—” Izumi fought to dig a corner of his shirt out from inside his coat, effectively blind without his glasses. He fumbled with them a moment, nearly dropping them into the snow.

“This’ll work better. Akira’s readying two more snowballs— Woah!” Hideki threw one of his own, but one whizzed towards him immediately after. Unsure if his made contact, Hideki crouched low and immediately began scooping up more snow, throwing the lumpy balls without a care for where they were going. Behind him, Izumi had joined back in on the fun, no longer caring about his glasses in favor of participating in the fight.

Among them, Itsuki was the first to laugh – a soft, exhausted noise that soon spread to Akira. Seconds later, Hideki and Izumi were doing the same. As the snow dwindled down and the laughter increased, all of them eventually collapsed into the snow, their hair and coats covered in white. They let out shaking, final laughs as the amusement died down, laying side-by-side and briefly enjoying the quiet silence and tranquility that a snowy day brought.

“Guys!”

However, it was soon interrupted as they heard a familiar voice calling out over the garden. Akira was the first to react, turning to look at the source. Itsuki was close behind, holding out a hand to help Hideki, then Izumi, up.

“Yuu?” Akira watched as his friend came to a stop before them. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong! But at the café, Kouhai-chan is offering a limited edition hot chocolate!”

“She’s what?” Hideki and Izumi spoke in unison, immediately interested.

“It’s peppermint-flavored and tastes amazing! You guys have to try some! Come on!” Yuu gestured for them to follow. The four of them quickly dusted each other off, before trailing along behind Yuu. They were all eager to escape to a warm place and settle in with delicious drinks and good company, knowing that their work for the afternoon was complete.

  
  



End file.
